Climate in MADAGASCAR

The following is excerped from the Country Studies--Area Handbook program of the U.S. Department of the Army. The original version of this text is available at the Library of Congress.
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Madagascar

Climate

The climate is dominated by the southeastern trade
winds that
originate in the Indian Ocean anticyclone, a center of
high
atmospheric pressure that seasonally changes its position
over
the ocean. Madagascar has two seasons: a hot, rainy season
from
November to April; and a cooler, dry season from May to
October.
There is, however, great variation in climate owing to
elevation
and position relative to dominant winds. The east coast
has a
subequatorial climate and, being most directly exposed to
the
trade winds, has the heaviest rainfall, averaging as much
as 3.5
meters annually. This region is notorious not only for a
hot,
humid climate in which tropical fevers are endemic but
also for
the destructive cyclones that occur during the rainy
season,
coming in principally from the direction of the Mascarene
Islands. Because rain clouds discharge much of their
moisture
east of the highest elevations on the island, the central
highlands are appreciably drier and, owing to the
altitude, also
cooler. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season
in the
central highlands, and lightning is a serious hazard.

Antananarivo receives practically all of its average
annual
1.4 meters of rainfall between November and April. The dry
season
is pleasant and sunny, although somewhat chilly,
especially in
the mornings. Although frosts are rare in Antananarivo,
they are
common at higher elevations. During this time, the blue
skies of
the central highlands around Antananarivo are considered
by many
to be among the clearest and most beautiful in the world.

The west coast is drier than either the east coast or
the
central highlands because the trade winds lose their
humidity by
the time they reach this region. The southwest and the
extreme
south are semidesert; as little as one-third of a meter of
rain
falls annually at Toliara. Overall, surface water is most
abundant along the east coast and in the far north (with
the
exception of the area around Cap d'Ambre, which has
relatively
little surface water). Amounts diminish to the west and
south,
and the driest regions are in the extreme south.

Madagascar suffers the impact of cyclones from time to
time.
From February 2-4, 1994, Madagascar was struck by Cyclone
Geralda, the worst cyclone to come ashore on the island
since
1927. The cyclone killed seventy people and destroyed
enough
property to leave approximately 500,000 homeless,
including
30,000 in Antananarivo and 80,000 in Toamasina. The
cyclone also
significantly damaged the country's infrastructure, most
notably
coastal roads, railroads, and telecommunications, as well
as
agriculture. Damage has been estimated at US$45 million,
and the
World Bank's (see Glossary)
International Development
Association
and various European organizations are engaged in
financing the
reconstruction. The Madagascar government will contribute
US$6
million toward the infrastructure rehabilitation.

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